World Order from the People’s Perspective in the Middle East: A New Approach of the Political Mental Map

Research Project of Research Institute for Social Sciences, Ryukoku University (2018)

Summary
Members
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Summary

It is meaningful in terms of both academic achievements and the understanding of international affairs to understand how the Arab citizens involved in conflicts have been viewing the global order in the region. “The Arab Spring” had been originally supposed to promote “Democratization,” brought about the social disorder and tremendous conflicts in some countries in the Middle East. This study makes it a goal to find an answer to the following two questions through the implementation and the analyses of a public opinion surveys: (1) How do the people in the Middle East recognize the regional international politics and what kind of the balance of power do they look for?; and (2) How does the general public understand political parties and forces in respective countries? All in all, this study aims to “draw up political mental maps and understand the political consciousness of the peoples in the Middle East” and to clearly describe and interpret the structures and dynamics of international politics. Furthermore, the project would make an interpretation about Islamic political movements.

Members

Principal Investigator

Shingo HAMANAKA (Professor, Faculty of Law, Ryukoku University)

Co-Investigators

Hiroyuki AOYAMA (Professor, Institute of Global Studies, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)
Yutaka TAKAOKA (Chief Research Fellow, Middle East Institute of Japan)